Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2 is an American computer-animated film, the third Pixar feature film was produced by Pixar Animation Studios, directed by John Lasseter, Lee Unkrich, and Ash Brannon and released by Walt Disney Pictures, and Buena Vista Pictures Distribution on November 24, 1999. The film keeps most of the original characters and voices from the first film, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, Annie Potts, John Ratzenberger, Joe Ranft, Jonathan Harris, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, Jodi Benson, Joan Cusack, Wayne Knight, Estelle Harris, and Kelsey Grammer. Plot Woody prepares to go to cowboy camp with Andy, but his arm is ripped, forcing him to stay on the shelf. There, Woody finds a broken squeeze toy penguin toy named Wheezy, who is to be sold at a yard sale. With help from Andy's dog, Buster, Woody sneaks out and saves Wheezy, but falls off before he can make it inside the house. He is first found by a girl, but is then found by an enthusiastic toy collector, who offers Andy's mother several deals to purchase Woody, but citing that Woody was not supposed to be in the yard sale in the first place, and that Woody is in fact a family heirloom, she declines his offers and locks Woody in a blue crate. The toy collector however creates a distraction and steals Woody out of the crate and drives off with him. Buzz Lightyear and the other toys recognize the thief as Al McWhiggin, the owner of Al's Toy Barn, and set out to rescue him. In Al's apartment, Woody discovers he is a valuable collectible based on an old, popular TV show called Woody's Roundup, and is set to be sold to a toy museum in Tokyo, Japan. The other toys from the franchise Jessie the yodeling cowgirl, Woody's horse, Bullseye, and Stinky Pete the Prospector, who is in mint condition inside his unopened box—are excited about the trip, but Woody intends to return home because he is still Andy's toy. They needed Woody to stay because if he wasn't with them, they would go back into storage. That night, Al accidentally rips off Woody's broken arm and Woody attempts to recover his arm and return to Andy. However, his attempt gets sabotaged when the TV turns on, waking Al up and ruining his chances of returning home. Woody suspects Jessie because the TV remote was near her and he plans to return to Andy once his arm is repaired. However, he changes his mind once he learns that Jessie was outgrown by her old owner, Emily, and realizes Andy will outgrow him at some point. Buzz and the other toys Rex, Mr. Potato Head, Slinky Dog, and Hamm reach the Al's Toy Barn store across from Al's apartment. However Buzz gets captured by a newer Buzz Lightyear action figure who is more deluded than the old Buzz was before. The new Buzz is mistaken by the other toys, who have the assistance and help from Tour Guide Barbie, as Andy's Buzz and joins them to Al's apartment. The real Buzz escapes and chases them, accidentally releasing an action figure of his arch enemy Emperor Zurg, who, just like the new Buzz, doesn't realize he is a toy. Buzz rejoins the others as soon as they find Woody, but Woody refuses to return to Andy. However, he changes his mind when he watches a boy with him on TV making him realize how much he missed Andy, and Buzz reminds him that toys are meant to be played with. Woody convinces Jessie and Bullseye to come with him as another way to stop them going back into storage, but Stinky Pete, out of his box, locks up the air vent the toys used to get to Al's apartment with his pickaxe, separating them from Andy's toys. Stinky Pete then reveals that he sabotaged Woody's attempt to regain his broken arm to prevent him returning to Andy and that he wants to go to Japan because he was forced to spend his life in a shop watching the other toys being sold. After they are taken by Al, the two Buzzes and the rest of Andy's toys encounter Zurg in an elevator shaft (Who the new Buzz starts to fight) while chasing Al, but the new Buzz remains behind to play with Zurg once he discovers that Zurg is his father. Buzz and the others follow Al to the airport and enter the baggage claim area to save Woody. Stinky Pete tries to stop them, ripping Woody's arm again, but he is defeated and stuffed in the bag of a girl who draws on the faces of her toys; this gives him a chance to see what it is like to be played with (what Woody calls "the true meaning of 'playtime'"). Jessie ends up being boarded on the airplane to Japan, but Woody, Buzz and Bullseye save her just before the plane lifts off and the toys return home to await Andy's arrival, Woody uses his pull string as a lasso. Later, Andy takes Jessie and Bullseye in as his new toys and fixes Woody's arm. The toys also learn that Al's business and mood have sharply declined because his attempt to sell the Roundup gang to Japan was a failure. As the new toys become accustomed to having a new owner, Woody tells Buzz that he is not worried about Andy outgrowing him, because when he does, they will have each other for infinity and beyond. The story ends with the end of a song sung by Wheezy aka Robert Goulet. Main Cast * Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear * Kelsey Grammer as Stinky Pete * John Ratzenberger as Hamm the Piggy Bank * Wallace Shawn as Rex * Jim Varney as Slinky Dog * Tom Hanks as Sheriff Woody * Wayne Knight as Al McWhiggin * Joan Cusack as Jessie * Andrew Stanton as Evil Emperor Zurg Additional Voices Production Toy Story 2 was not originally intended for release in theaters. Disney asked Pixar to make a direct-to-video sequel for the original Toy Story with a 99-minute running time. The task was turned over to a secondary production team at Pixar while the primary team focused on the production of A Bug's Life. When Disney executives saw how impressive the in-work imagery for the sequel was, and due to pressure from the main characters' voice actors Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, they decided to convert Toy Story 2 into a theatrical film. However, many of the creative staff at Pixar were not happy with how the sequel was turning out. John Lasseter, upon returning from European promotion of A Bug's Life, watched the development reels and agreed that it wasn't working. Pixar met with Disney, telling them that the film would have to be redone. Disney, however, disagreed, and noted that Pixar did not have enough time to remake the film before its established release date. Pixar decided that they simply could not allow the film to be released in its existing state, and asked Lasseter to take over the production. Lasseter agreed, and recruited the creative team behind the first film to redevelop the story. Over the course of a weekend, the script was completely rewritten. To meet Disney's deadline, Pixar had to complete the entire film in nine months. Some animators got repetitive strain injuries rushing to complete the film, which taught the Pixar managers to arrange breaks between each project from then on. Pixar and Disney had a five-film co-production deal and Pixar felt that with its change in status, Toy Story 2 should count as one of the pictures in the deal. Disney felt that since the production of Toy Story 2 was negotiated outside of the five-picture deal, it should not count. This issue became a particularly sore spot for Pixar, leading to a falling out between Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and Disney CEO Frank Wells, concluding in Pixar's 2004 announcement that it would not extend its deal with Disney and would instead seek other distribution partners. The problems were eventually resolved following Eisner's departure from Disney, with new CEO Bob Iger negotiating Disney's purchase of Pixar in 2000. Music Randy Newman wrote two new songs for Toy Story 2 as well as the complete original score: * "When She Loved Me" - performed by Sarah McLachlan: Used for the flashback montage in which Jessie experiences being loved, forgotten, and ultimately abandoned by her owner, Emily. This song was nominated at the Oscars in 2000 for Best Song, though the award went to Phil Collins for "You'll Be in My Heart" from another Disney animated film Tarzan. * "Woody's Roundup" - performed by Riders in the Sky: Theme song for the "Woody's Roundup" TV show. Also end-credit music. The film also includes two new versions of "You've Got a Friend in Me," the theme from the first film. The first is performed by the puppet Woody (Tom Hanks) "on guitar" as part of the "Woody's Roundup" show. The second is a Vegas-style finale production number sung by Wheezy (singing voice provided by Robert Goulet). Release Theatrical Release Toy Story 2 opened over the November 13, 1999, and was Hugly Sucessful. Video games Toy Story 2: Buzz Lightyear to the Rescue,a video game for the PC, PlayStation, Nintendo 64 and Dreamcast was released. The game featured original cast voices and clips from the film as introductions to levels. Once earned, these clips could be viewed at the player's discretion. Another game was released for the Game Boy Color. Sequel A sequel Toy Story 3 was released on June 18, 2010. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Raztenberger, Estelle Harris, and Jeff Pigeon Reprise their roles as Woody the Cowboy, Buzz Lightyear, Jessie the Cowgirl, Mr. Potato Head, Hamm the Piggy Bank, Mrs. Potato Head, and The Aliens Also Annie Potts did reprise their roles as Bo Peep And Joe Ranft who voiced Wheezy and with Pinto Colvig voiced Lenny love along with Jim Varney as Slinky Dog. In January 1, 2000 before TS3 was released. He is voiced by Blake Clark. Home media Toy Story 2 was released on October 17, 2000 on VHS and DVD. That same day an "Ultimate Toy Box" set was released containing both films and a third disc of bonus materials. On October 7, 2003 it was released as a "2-Disc Special Edition" alongside of the first film. For the time ever on Blu ray and DVD on October 7, 2013. Reception Box Office Toy Story 2 came in at #1 to a three-day tally of $57,388,839 from 3,236 theaters averaging $17,734 per theater over three days, making $80,102,784 since its Wednesday launch, and staying at #1 for the next two weekends. It eventually made $245,852,179 domestically and $239,163,000 overseas for a total worldwide gross of $485,015,179, becoming the third highest grossing film of 1999, and far surpassing the original, and in fact, every other animated film to that date except for Fantasia, even though both were later eclipsed by the CGI films. Reviews Toy Story 2 received universal acclaim. Review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes reports that 100% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 147 reviews, with an average score of 8.6/10. The critical consensus is: Entertaining characters and eye-popping animation make this sequel an instant classic. Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 are all Pixar's highest-rated films to date. It is currently #1 on Rotten Tomatoes' list of best rated films. It currently holds a 100% approval from critics, and 92% from the community, while the original holds a 96% community rating and the best rated animated film. The film also holds an 88 out of 100 on Metacritic. It joins the rare number of sequels judged to be "as good as or better than the original." Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a half stars out of four and said in his print review "I forgot something about toys a long time ago, and Toy Story 2 reminded me." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said "Toy Story 2 may not have the most original title, but everything else about it is, well, mint in the box." Entertainment Weekly said "It's a great, IQ-flattering entertainment both wonderful and wise." Category:Movies Category:Toy Story